WI Under-15 cricketers in two-week camp

THERE are 19 under-15 cric-keters undergoing a two-week cricket camp at the new Sir Frank Worrell Cricket Develop-ment Centre.

Opening the camp yesterday, Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board president Alloy Lequay gave the 19 cricket sdudents an outline of the facilities at the National Cricket Centre, located at Balmain, Couva, Central Trinidad. He told the youngsters the TTCB spent ten million in developing facilities at the Centre. And said of  that amount, three million came by way of a donation from government and a soft loan from the West Indies Cricket Board. The remaining seven million he pointed out came from the TTCB without any outside assistance. Lequay was delivering his opening remarks entitled “From a Cowpen to the International Coaching Academy.” He  Lequay said  up to this point the Centre hosted an Under-15 United States team,  coaching seminar, Barbados schoolboys team, Trinidad and Tobago women team and the West Indies women team which toured Holland last week and qualified to play in the next Women World Cup Cricket Cham-pionships in South Africa in 2005. Apart from that, he said the NCC  hosted regional matches earlier this year and also helped in preparing the national youth teams, and now look ahead to  the 2007 World Cup.

Lequay said the TTCB had projected the opening of the academy because the WICB had put that idea on their backburner. He said  “through prudent financial management, the TTCB purchased 17.5 acres of land from Caroni 1975 Limited in 1995 to start the project.” He told the youths  the NCC was not aiming at producing cricketers only but “good people who can play cricket. “If we do that, then we would have succeeded,” he said. Dr Michael Seepersaud, chief development officer of the WICB, sent a message to the members of the camp, saying “you are here because we have identified you as the best and brightest young prospects that we have in the region. “Over the next two weeks you would have the opportunity to fine-tune your skills, not only in cricket, but in those other areas that are vital to succeed in life with or without cricket.” Those at the camp are: Jed Yearwood, Kevin McLean, Kemar Roach (Barbados); Kevon Fran-cois, Javed Mohammed, Keegan Roy, Anderson Beharry (Trinidad); Gajanand Singh, Krishna Deo-saran, Tavendra Pooran, Anthony Foster, Steven Jacob (Guyana); Zenisse Fowler, Ricardo Sitcheron, Ziggy Levy (Jamaica); Rodney Trott (Bermuda); Seon Sween, Lauron Francois (St Vincent); Justin Athanaze (Antigua).